Might as Well
by countrypanther14
Summary: No one should experience death first hand, but four year old Minnie Jones had no choice but to watch this crime, committed by her father. Now, she roams New York, in search of a new home; but when she meets a man of science, shortly after showing mutant-like abilities, her whole world changes. Rated just to be safe, but it may change later. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**I was bored, and it's been a while since I've made an AEMH fanfic, so here you go. As usual R&R, and I own nothing but the OCs.  
**

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Minnie watched as the crime scene photographers took pictures of the dead body, her older sister, Skyler; watching as they tried to avoid the blood pool on the tile floor.

"Sweetie," a female police officer said, drawing the young girl's attention away from the dead body at the foot of the stairs. "We're going to take you with us until your parents can come get you. Okay?"

Minnie looked back over her shoulder at her sister, and then back at the police officer with big gray eyes. "I cannot do that." she whimpered. "My daddy's upstairs. He'll get mad if I leave." she turned and ran back to the elevator, hiding as the double doors slid shut. Minnie never meant to see what had happened: she never meant to watch as her dad killed her older sister.

Now, she was standing in the elevator, afraid to go back to her apartment. But nothing could stop her as the double doors slid open; nothing could stop her as she went back to the apartment, reaching for the doorknob and opening the door as she watched her father, now sleeping in his chair, an empty beer can in his hands. Now was her chance; she went to her room and packed all of her clothes into her back pack, pulling on her shoes as she went back down stairs, holding her teddy bear, Skyler's first and only gift to her, against her chest. "Bye Daddy." she said; she turned and started walking, but where to...?

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**That's it for chapter one, R&R please.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's another chapter to 'Might as Well' R&R.**

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The breaks on the bus screeched as the bus lurched to a halt, "Last stop kiddo." the bus driver yelled back.

The four year old stood, still holding her teddy bear to her chest as she looked up at the driver through her mane of chestnut colored hair. "Thank you," she said, pulling her back pack over her shoulders as she hopped off the bus. She didn't even bother paying the fair as she put her headband in her hair to keep her hair out of her face; and she had no idea how far she walked as she entered a building, finding an empty chair and sitting down, once again hugging her teddy bear.

"Are you lost sweetie?" a voice asked.

The girl looked up and saw a woman in her late twenties with long red hair tied back into a loose and low ponytail, and gentle green eyes in front of her. "N-No," she said softly, "My daddy said to wait for him here."

"Do you know where your daddy is? the woman asked,

"No," the girl said, even softer than before.

"What's your name sweetie? the woman asked,

"Minnie. Like Minnie Mouse." the girl said.

The woman chuckled, reaching her hand out to Minnie, "Minnie, honey, we can't have you running around here unsupervised," she said, "Come with me, I can take you someplace safe until your daddy can pick you up."

Minnie took the woman's hand and read her ID badge that was clipped to her blazer, "Thank you Miss Potts." she said sweetly.**  
**

The woman smiled, "You're welcome." she said, "And call me Pepper."

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Minnie sat in the security office, one of the secretaries was nice enough to give her some paper and a box of crayons so she could draw and keep herself occupied. When the door opened, her heart stopped:

In the doorway was a man in his mid-twenties, with spiky blonde hair and dark eyes with a scar over one of them. She had seen him work with her father many of times; her father would give him money, and he would give him something that she knew was illegal. "Oh, there you are." he said, his eyes locking with Minnie's, "You have to come home now."

Minnie squeaked and hid under the desk in the security office, pressing herself against the wall as the man came closer, "Get away from me." she yelled, "Get away!"

The man picked up her teddy bear and looked at it, "Very well then," he dangled the bear in the air and threw it at her. "Have it your way."

Minnie reached out and grabbed the bear, holding it to her chest as the man tried to take it from her. "Let go of him," she yelled, pulling on the bear's arm, "You're going to break him." The bear and its head separated and she fell to the floor, looking up at the man as he held the head of that stuffed bear, its button eyes looking at nothing as he tossed it aside. "You broke my teddy bear." she said, tears forming in her eyes. "You broke him." she clenched her hands into fists and felt the tears roll down her face.

The desk levitated off of the ground and hit the man in the back of the head, continuing to fly around the room as security went in to check on her.

"What the Hell?" a voice said, bewildered at what he was seeing from a four year old girl. The desk fell and shattered on the floor, and Minnie looked at the stocky security guard, and the man with black hair and brown eyes with a well trimmed beard. She felt her legs give out as she wet herself, she was never so scared, not even when she saw her sister die. "You have to come with us kid." the security guard said.

* * *

"Come on Hank," Janet yelled up the stairs. "We told your brother we'd be at the airport an hour ago."

"Yeah, but Jennifer called me and said that she took a cab, she'll be here in few minutes." Hank called back.

"And I am here." a voice said. A girl, no older than sixteen with long black hair and blueish black eyes stepped in, peeling off her black sweatshirt to reveal a skin tight, paint spattered tank top over a pair of faded blue jeans and brown sandals; wearing a white painter's cap backwards on her head as she fixed her blue highlighted bangs. She adjusted the duffel bag on her shoulder, and headed for the stairs, "And how long does it take one man to take a shower?" she yelled up the stairs.

"You try staying in a lab for more than an hour." Hank yelled down the stairs; he appeared on the landing between the first and second floor of the house with his casual clothes on, but now doubt having his Yellow-jacket costume underneath them. "Besides, what's the big deal? I've been working on a project."

"Yeah, I know." the girl said, "But me, I've been looking forward to seeing the uncle who I haven't seen in ten years."

Hank chuckled and met the girl at the bottom of the stairs, hugging her as he picked her up off the floor, "Hey Jenny." he said.

"Pardon me Mr. Pym, but Mr. Stark requires your assistance on the Helicarrier." Jarvis said.

"Now what?" he groaned.

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**Thanks for reading chapter two. R&R please. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's another chapter to 'Might as Well.' R&R please.**

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Minnie sat curled up in a corner in the SHIELD prison cell, her back turned to the pale, brown haired teenager that was crouched in front of the door,

"You have to turn around sooner or later." the teen said, "And you'll have to answer my questions."

"Go away." Minnie yelled; a gust of wind exited the cell and sent the teen flying. "I want my Sissy." she sobbed.

The teen groaned and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, your 'sissy' can't be here." he said, "And you'll just be stuck here."

"I did nothing wrong." Minnie yelled, "Sissy will hurt you. She always protects me." she put her thumb in her mouth an sucked on it, whimpering softly as she tucked her knees closer to her chest.

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Hank and Janet watched from the security room, watching the monitors as Minnie sat crying in the corner of her cell. "Why did you lock her up like this?" Hank asked, "She's only a little girl."

"Well, this little girl knocked one of Iron Man's security guards unconscious in his building." SHIELD co-director Maria Hill said. "So she's a threat to him."

"The poor thing," Janet said, "She must be terrified."

"Well, unless one of you two are willing to go in there-which you are not, you don't have clearance-we'll have to keep her here." Maria said.

* * *

"I honestly, can't believe you Tony Stark." Hank growled, "Not only did you waste my time with going onto the Helicarrier to do nothing, but you locked up a frightened kid."

"That kid is an unstable mutant," Tony said, "and I don't see why you're suddenly angry at me, you're the one who has to study her."

"I am not performing scientific experiments on a four year old girl Stark." Hank said, "She's scared enough as it is."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Tony asked, "We can't give her to another family, they'll just send her back to SHIELD."

Hank rubbed his temples, trying to prevent an oncoming migraine as he thought about what to do. "I don't know." he said, "But I refuse to let her stay in that prison."

"Pardon me sirs, but there is a phone call from Miss. Van Dyne for Mr. Pym." Jarvis said,

"I'll get to it later." Hank said,

"I don't think this can wait Hank," Janet said. "The girl's gone."

"Jan, I- wait, what?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, she broke out a few minutes ago. I'm already trying to find her." Janet said.

Hank groaned and rubbed his temples again, "The millions of people in this state, she can be anywhere." he said, "Where are you right now?"

"Just flying over Central Park." Janet said.

"Okay, I'll meet you there and help out." Hank said, "I'll see you in a few minutes."

* * *

The thunder roared in the sky as the rain streaked down the windows, and Jennifer stood in the rain, watching the sky for something...out of the ordinary. At the first glimpse of Janet's yellow Wasp costume, she went inside and waited for Janet to get changed into her pajamas. "Find her yet?" she asked.

"No," Janet sighed, dragging her body into bed. "And your uncle's still out looking for her."

Jennifer sighed and went back to her room, pulling a feathered masquerade mask from her duffel bag, _I told myself I wouldn't do this again._ she thought. _But just once more, she needs to be with the people who love her._

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Hank woke up slowly the next morning; he did not get back until five in the morning, and his clock read seven. So basically, he just got two hours of sleep. He couldn't help it, he had to find that girl. He rolled onto his back and moved his hair off of his face, staring at the ceiling as something cuddled up next to him. He looked down and saw Janet sleeping soundly against his chest, breathing softly as he moved a piece of her hair away from her face. He sat up, pulling Janet closer to him as something pulled on the covers of his bed. He looked down and saw the girl from yesterday:

Her hair was wet and tangled, she had tears rolling down her face, and she was shivering. But, she kinda looked like Linus off of Classical Peanuts: she was still sucking on her thumb, her eyes were closed in contentment, and she was holding the covers on his bed against her cheek like a security blanket; it was kind of adorable, but at the same time, it made Hank feel sorry for her.

He tried to slide out from beside Janet, only to hear her moan softly, usually her sign that she's waking up.

"Morning," she yawned,

"Hey," he said. "Look who found her way here."

Janet gasped as she saw the girl, she was just heartbroken at how no one would help her. She got up from beside Hank, and picked the girl up in her arms; gently shushing her when she whimpered.

The girl opened her eyes.

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**Thanks for reading, sorry I had to add a cliffhanger. R&R, and I'll upload more soon.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter. R&R please.**

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The girl looked at Janet, then at Hank; her gray eyes filling with tears as she cried into Janet's chest, just whimpering the word 'Sissy,' over and over again. She put her thumb in her mouth again and just cried, Janet shushing her and humming 'Hush little baby,' in a soft voice. "I sorry." she sniffed, "Daddy never held me like this. He does not love me."

Hank noticed the bruises on her arms, and felt his heart shatter; to think that anyone would put a child through that.

"It's okay sweetie." Janet whispered. She sat down on the foot of Hank's bed and just held the girl in her arms, running her fingers through her tangled hair. "What's your name?"

"Minnie." she whispered softly, still sucking on her thumb. She sat in Janet's lap, sucking the thumb on her one hand, using the other to keep her knees hugged to her chest.

"That's a cute name." Hank finally spoke. He gestured to Janet, asking if he could hold her before taking her into his arms.

Minnie sniffled and wiped her eyes, her frail body curled up against Hank's muscled form.

"Morning," Jennifer said, peeking her head into the door. "I see you found the girl."

"Yeah, just now." Hank said,

"Oh, okay. And uncle Hank, the people working in the science department in SHIELD, idiots." she said. "They couldn't identify a headless teddy bear. Which by the way, I fixed up." she held out the bear, it's head sewn expertly back into it's rightful position, a red ribbon tied around its neck.

Minnie's eyes lit up and she reached for the bear, "You fixed him." she cheered, hugging the bear to her chest. "Thank you."

"No problem kid." she said.

Hank looked at Jennifer in awe, he still remembered her as a six year old girl, hiding in every place she knew just to get away from her family. When he looked back down at Minnie, he saw that she was still dirty, and that she left footprints on the bedspread. "Minnie, how about we get you cleaned up." he said, "You're leaving footprints."

Minnie looked down at the bedspread and back up at Hank, "No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't wanna."

"That wasn't a suggestion." Hank said.

Minnie leaped back into Janet's arms and threw her bear at him, "No," she said more firmly, "I'm not gonna."

"Kid, I already got you more rubber ducks. They're in the bathroom waiting for you." Jennifer said.

"No," Minnie said, "You can't make me."

"Jan," Hank said.

Janet picked Minnie up in her arms and carried her into the bathroom, trying to put her into the tub as she kicked and splashed. "Minnie, you have to get into the tub. It won't hurt you."

"Get off of me!" she yelled, "Put me down." she jumped out of Janet's arms and bolted for the door,

"Not so fast," Hank said, scooping Minnie up into his arms and bringing her back into the bathroom.

"No!" Minnie screamed,

"What is it with you and taking baths?" Hank asked, struggling to keep Minnie in his arms.

"Daddy always tried to hurt me when he did this." Minnie said, "I don't wanna."

Hank sighed and turned the shower on, "You leave me no choice then." he said. He put Minnie under the shower and got her cleaned, despite her protests and her trying to run away. "Now that wasn't so bad now, was it?"

Minnie looked up at Hank and pouted, puffing her cheeks out as Hank felt himself get thrown into the still full bath tub.

"What's going on?" Janet asked before laughing at Hank as he tried to get out of the tub.

"Shut up," Hank growled.

Janet giggled and dried Minnie off before picking her up to pick out an outfit for her. "Sorry, but that's hilarious." she giggled.

Hank let out a frustrated groan and finally got out of the bath tub, only to slip in the water on the floor and land on his butt. _This is going to be a long day._ he thought.

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**Aw, poor Hank. R&R.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long, as usual, R&R.**

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"Come on Uncle Stark. Do I have to stay with you all summer?" the the goggled teen asked, shuffling behind Tony.

"Mathew, I promised your mother that I'd give her some time away from you. So I did." Tony said as they entered the mansion.

"But the whole summer? I have a social life too." the teen whined. "And it's just Matt."

"And you'll have to spend it where I can keep an eye on you." Tony said.

"You can trust me Uncle Stark. I'm almost 18." Matt said, shuffling towards the stairs.

* * *

"Okay, just remember not to let Minnie stay up too late." Hank said as he picked up his wallet. "I should be back by ten."

"Don't worry Uncle Hank, you can trust me." Jennifer said. "You have a nice night out. Everything will be fine." She pushed Hank out the door and turned him towards Janet, "I'll see you tonight." She shut the door and turned to Minnie who was dressed as a pirate.

"Arrgh, Captain Minnie says to walk the plank." she said, swiping at Jennifer with a toy sword.

"How would captain Minnie like it if her first mate made her some brownies?" Jennifer asked, heading for the kitchen.

"Okay." Minnie said, following Jennifer.

* * *

"No," Matt snapped at his computer screen. "Don't get eaten, don't get eaten." An explosion sounded through his headphones as fire spread across his computer screen. "No!" he yelled. "Why me!?" he jumped off his bed and fell to his knees. "Why!?"

"Please get a hold of yourself Mr. Stark." Jarvis said. "It is just a game."

"But...I lost." Matt whimpered.

"Get a hold of yourself." Clint yelled from his room. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Why do you think I was playing the game in the first place." Matt yelled. "I had to drown out you and your girlfriend." He got up and went downstairs to the kitchen, stopping in his tracks at the doorway when he saw Jennifer.

"Oh, hello." Jennifer said as she cracked an egg into a bowl. "I didn't see you there."

"Sorry," he stammered. "I'm Mathew Stark. But you can just call me Matt."

"Jennifer Pym. And judging by your last name being Stark, you're..."

"His nephew." Matt finished.

"Yellow Jacket's niece." she said. She clicked on the mixer and jumped back as brownie mix splattered all over her and Minnie. "Aw man." she said.

Matt laughed as she turned to him with golden hazel eyes.

"Oh, so you think that's funny?" she asked getting a handful of brownie mix and throwing it.

* * *

"I still say you're being paranoid." Janet said. "Can't you trust your niece for one evening?"

"Not really." Hank said as the waiter brought them their drinks. "She's been known to be irresponsible. And with Stark's nephew there, I can only imagine what they're doing."

"Again, you're being paranoid." Janet said. She leaned over the table and kissed him on the cheek. "Just relax, Jennifer and Minnie will be fine."

Hank smiled as he returned the kiss, only for the waiter to clear his throat and separate them before taking their orders.

* * *

"Get back here Stark." Jennifer said, holding the rest of the eggs behind her back. "I'm done. I won't throw anything else at you."

Matt looked from around the corner as he got her with grape soda.

"Oh, it's on." she shouted, throwing eggs at him.

"Heads up." Minnie shouted, throwing a bowl of applesauce at Jennifer and hitting her in the chest.

"Tickle attack!" Jennifer yelled, grabbing Minnie and ticking her.

Matt chuckled and got them both with a soda geyser, laughing even harder as Minnie moved her hair of her face and reached for a bowl of melted chocolate candy, and threw it at him.

"This means war." he said, reaching for a banana and peeling it.

"Most definitely." she said, reaching for some Oreos.

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**What will happen next, stay tuned. R&R  
**


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